


i hear my voice ringing (i hear the summertime singing)

by orosea



Series: summer lovin' [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Looooooose following of actual supports, more of a drabble than a stand-alone thing bc i got bored
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 02:18:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12159594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orosea/pseuds/orosea
Summary: It’s entirely too fast and Corrin hazily thinks it’s a dream but she fleetingly feels chapped lips brush the corner of her mouth before Niles is gone. Corrin shivers, no matter how smoldering it is outside.It's summertime and Corrin has a crush.





	i hear my voice ringing (i hear the summertime singing)

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first in a series of drabbles (i guess) where i write any supports i like honestly. truthfully i never married niles in any runs lol but i got to writing it and it slipped in, im open to any suggestions for other drabbles
> 
> (title is from up all night by beck)

“You can come a little closer,” He rumbles with something that sounds like goading. Corrin raises a brow, eyes locking with his. “I don’t bite.”

“Ok.”

Corrin knew she was doomed from the start.

* * *

 

There’s something shameful about trapezing around in the night with the outcast of the ranks. Unbecoming of a princess, as Xander would say. But the rush of her hand intertwined with Niles’ as they weave through the night sentries really is enough to make her not care in the slightest.

Why should Xander and Ryoma tell her what to do? Not like they’re her guardians, she’s an adult. She’s been—A crash into a wall of muscle startles her out of her thought and in the dark she can barely make out Niles’ face, a finger drawn to his lips.

“There are guards around up ahead.” The corner of his mouth snakes up into a smirk and only then Corrin realizes her uncomfortable proximity to Niles’ chest. She squirms in the humidity of the small alcove he had yanked her into, elbow jutting into his diaphragm.

“How long?” She mumbles irritably, bangs sticky on her forehead.

“I’d say the patrol moves ahead in about 5 minutes.” He observes, head ducking around the corner for a split second.

“Well, while we’re here…” She pushes forward, forearm pressing into his stomach. The action makes Niles eyebrows retreat to his hairline and Corrin to flush. He catches the fumble immediately and Corrin goes an even deeper pink.

“Still fishing for my sordid past are you?” Corrin almost flinches at his tone, light and airy but frigid, much like the first time she asked about his where he was from. She had almost considered them friends honestly, with all the late night training and running around. Apparently Niles doesn’t make anything but acquaintances.

“No, it's not like that. I think because my memories are so limited…” Niles leans forward far enough for Corrin to get a whiff of whatever tree he always smells of. Something crisp and musky. “I'm always curious to hear about other people's backgrounds.”

“I see.” He hums and Corrin holds her breath during his pause. “Okay, I’ll believe you’re curious.” The guards are long gone but they still stay tucked into the small hiding place.

“But you should know up front that it's not all lollipops and puppy dogs.” He doesn’t seem grim about what he’s saying at all but rather casual. “Since I was a child, I've had to do a lot of unsavory things just to survive. Steal, beg, kill—just another Tuesday for li'l Niles, sadly.”

Corrin knits her brows and can’t help the frown twisting onto her face and the murmur that escapes from her. “Gods.”

Niles tilts his head slightly, white curls clinging to his neck in the humid night. “Surprised?” He says with almost equal curiosity. “I haven’t even gotten to the worse stuff.”

Shame boils deep in Corrin’s gut, churning like storm clouds. It was so terrible of her to push the subject. “I’m so sorry,” She whispers. “I should’ve known better than to pry.”

Niles snorts. Honest to gods, snorts. Corrin would be fuming if this situation wasn’t her fault to begin with. He just continues on like it was any other day with his usual taunting and whatnot. “No.” He laughs and his grin looks entirely too charming for Corrin’s own good. “If anything, I should apologize to you. You asked so sweetly, and here I am teasing you again.” He tapers off to give her a half grin that resembles something Corrin thinks—hopes is affection.

“My past was troubled, and I certainly suffered a great deal. But it is all in the past, and I don't mind sharing.” The air seems to be buzzing around Corrin. “At least, I don't mind sharing with someone whose motives aren’t entirely self-serving.”

It’s entirely too fast and Corrin hazily thinks it’s a dream but she feels chapped lips brush the corner of her mouth fleetingly before Niles is gone. Corrin shivers, no matter how smoldering it is outside.

* * *

 

“You know, I’m afraid I’m fresh out of stimulating conversation topics.” Niles drones boredly another blistering summer day. Corrin huffs, grappling with the crate of weapons in her hands.

“How about,” She pauses to pant, sweat pooling under her armor uncomfortably. “Less stimulating, more helping.” His laughter rings in the open and Corrin is actually sorta pleased at least something she said was amusing when she meant for it to be.

“Isn’t that peculiar though?” He grasps the box from Corrin’s much shorter frame and almost groans at how heavy it was. “I don’t have anything to discuss with you…” He sets the box on top of the stack that she had been making previously. “Yet here I am. Why is that?”

“I-” Corrin flounders at the genuine curiosity that he inspects her with. “I couldn’t tell you.”

“Perhaps, I just enjoy seeing your flustered face.” As if on cue, Corrin’s face lights up like a traffic light. He bends down for a box of shurikens, still evidently bored.

Corrin, embarrassingly enough, pouts. “You see me nearly everyday… just to tease me?” She asks incredulously. The silence before his answer almost hurts her feelings before Corrin pulls back the reigns on her school girl crush a little tighter.

“Or perhaps,” His gaze is calculated on Corrin and she sort of wants to drop one of these heavy crates on his toes. “In a twisted sort of way, I want to connect with you as a person.”

“Niles are you serious?” Corrin tosses her head back and groans. For someone so cunning how can he be so naive? “That’s normal. It’s what normal people do.”

“Huh.” He shrugs. “I don’t get called normal very often. Do you mind if I try this whole ‘human connection’ again sometime?” The thought of Niles actually caring enough to talk to her makes her heart pulse with affection. But something about the statement makes Corrin suspicious.

Corrin picks up the last crate and grumbles. “Do you ever really listen to me?” She hides her glowing cheeks with the box. “Knock yourself out.”

Corrin can honestly say that she and Niles were close after that. If not, a little too close. “GET OUT OF THE BATH HOUSE!”

“I thought we were connecting!” A bar of soap goes flying straight past his head as he retreats, his laughter much too bright and happy. Corrin sinks under the water, ears hotter than the steam floating around her.

* * *

 

“Do you think someone can be irreparably damaged?” The question makes Corrin drop her spoon into her bowl of soup, splashing broth onto her shirt.

“Are you talking about yourself?” She says slowly and it’s really hard to not get angry when Niles shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Why would you think that?”

A singular brow raises, like he can’t tell if she’s serious or not. “Have you not seen the way everyone treats me?” He wags a breadstick in her face as if to make a point. “Xander nearly popped a blood vessel when he found us that night.”

“Okay,” Corrin says, measured. “To be fair, it did look like you were leaning in to kiss me. And it was night. And we were very purposely sneaking around.”

“Oh, I was.” He savors a bite of soft bread, leaning his chair back on two legs while Corrin chokes on a spoonful of soup at his reply. “But that’s besides the point, he looked at me like I was a vermin. Everyone except Odin, Leo, and well, you, happen to.”

Corrin takes a sip of tea, mulling it over. Looking back, a lot of people do tend to take it harshly when she trains with Niles. “I don’t see the problem.” She replies, dipping her spoon back into her soup. “We’re the only opinions you care about.”

“Well I can’t make moves on a Princess if everyone thinks I’m a rat.” There goes another spoonful, burning her throat as she wheezes it down.

“Okay you waited for that one.” Niles chuckles, a nice, glittery sound that still fills Corrin with a strange warmness whenever it’s drawn from his chest. “I appreciate your concern for my purity but it doesn’t tend to matter when I’m not the direct heir and our countries are in tatters.”

“Ah but-”

“Besides,” Corrin cuts in flatly. “We’re literally married.”

“Ah yes, that always slips my mind.”

Corrin breaks the facade, dissolving into a fit of giggles and Niles gives her one of his rare, but unguarded gazes of love.

It’s okay if he’s still struggling to understand that she accepts him for who he is, because it’s Niles.

It’s always been Niles.

 

 

 

 


End file.
